Gods Reading PJ
by MoonDuchess and LunarFox
Summary: The Gods receive a note and a box, in the box the Percy Jackson series and the note states they must read the books to learn about their own fate. As they do they learn how the demigods feel about them and what demigods must go through to survive. The story starts 3 years before the series starts. This was originally written on deviantart by Moonlit-NightStars. (Story is paused)
1. Chapter 1

I found a really awesome Percy Jackson story on deviantart but the author Moonlit-NightStars did not want to finish it so I was given permission to put it on fanfiction and finish it.  
I do not own  
Percy Jackson or the story leading up to chapter 16. But after chapter 16 the storyline is mine. Please review when you finish the chapter.

Chapter 1:

Hermes was just leaving Olympus after giving Aphrodite her new make up that she wanted to try, when he noticed another package in his bag that read.

To: Hermes, Apollo, Ares, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Athena,  
Artemis, Chiron, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades  
Please open together.  
Mount Olympus  
600th Floor  
Empire State Building  
New York, NY

Hermes curious about the package started back toward Olympus. When he got to the thrown room, Zeus was there arguing with Poseidon. "Excuse me Lord Zeus" Hermes tried to get there attention, with out success. "What is it Hermes?" Athena asked walking over to see what the commotion was about. "I got a package for Me, Apollo, Ares, Dionysus, Aphrodite, you, Artemis, Chiron, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. And Zeus and Poseidon are fighting so…" Hermes trailed off.  
"What there's a package for me?" Zeus said turning from his fight with his brother to Hermes, who by the way rolled his eyes. "Not just you Lord Zeus but also me, Apollo, Ares, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Chiron, Poseidon, and Hades." Hermes explained.  
After debating he called everyone and Hades, and after taking a vote on whether they should open it or not; which by the way no one knew why they shouldn't open it. Hermes opened it to find… "What?!" he yelled looking at what was inside. "What is it?" Ares grunted. "They are books! Who the HADES sent us a bunch of books?" After Hermes outburst and almost everyone getting annoyed they started to leave. When Athena intrigued by the package of books found a note inside. "Hey; there's a note" she called everyone back.  
"Dear gods and goddess, before you dump the books, I suggest you read them. It has yours and your children's fate."  
"Does it say who sent it?" Artemis asked, as Athena shook her head no.  
"If it has our fate does it mean it has the future?" Apollo spoke up.  
"I think we should read it" Athena finally said. So Hades picked up the first book and read "Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Lightning Thief" Poseidon froze at the mention of his son. Why was there a series about him, he only just turned nine? Athena noticing Poseidon reaction asked "Do you know who Percy is Poseidon?"  
"Read the book" was all he said in reply.

"I Accidentally Vaporized My Pre- Algebra Teacher"

Hades read. "Does that mean Percy's a half blood?" Apollo asked. "Then that would mean his Pre-Algebra teacher is a monster" Chiron put in. "Let me read" Hades glared. Look I didn't want to be a half-blood.

"Well then his Algebra teacher is defiantly a monster" Apollo pointed out. Poseidon glared he wanted to know what was happing or going to happen to his son, because as it is Percy had no clue about the gods.

If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now

"That's not good advice" Chiron stated. "WILL YOU LET ME READ?!" Hades yelled. After a minute of silence he smiled and continued.

Believe what ever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.

Hades blinked and stared "That can kill them," Artemis put in.

Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.

All the gods (With the exception of Ares and Artemis) and Chiron were quiet remembering and morning for there children/students, think of all there past children's/student's lives. Hades took a deep breath and started up again.

If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think its fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.  
But if you recognize yourself in these pages- if you feel something stirring inside- stop reading immediately

"Well…If you say so" Apollo smiled and made his way to leave. "Idiot" Artemis muttered before Zeus told him to sit back down.

You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you. Don't say I didn't warn you

Ares snorted. "Ohhh creepy," Apollo laughed. "He means monster I assume," Chiron stated more then asked.

My name is Percy Jackson.  
I'm Twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.  
Am I a troubled kid?

"I'd think; you're going to a boarding school for 'em'" Ares laughed. 'Well then he has three more years of normalcy at lest' Poseidon thought.

Yeah. You could say that

"I was right!" Ares cheered.

I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things started going bad last May, when our sixth grade class took a field trip to Manhattan, twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus

Hades paused. I don't think that's very smart, he thought to himself. "What idiot would do that?" Ares shouted.

heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.  
I know- it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were.  
But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.

"Well I agree with Ares this mister Brunner guy is not that smart, twenty-eight children that are from a troubled children academy" Chiron shook his head.

Mr. Brunner was middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee.

"Oh I guess I'm the idiot" Chiron laughed with the gods. "But if I'm there I most think he's very important" and everyone grew quiet. Well until Hades broke the quiet to continue.

You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.

"Well I'm glade he likes me" Chiron smiled softly.

I hoped the trip would be okay. At lest, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.  
Boy was I wrong.  
See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that… Well, you get the idea

By the time Hades had finished all the gods were laughing. "Poor Percy," Chiron chuckled.

This trip, I was determined to be good.  
All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.

"Did he say of peanut butter-and-ketchup?" Aphrodite asked appalled. "Grover, I guess you gave him another chance," Chiron said to Dionysus.

Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his leg. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

"Young Percy seems  
Nice yet I wonder why  
He does not know" Apollo said counting. Artemis glared at her brother "Stop it!"

Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.

"But that's no fun" Ares grumbled. "Now I want to know how he got this probation" Apollo stated.

"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.

"THEN DO IT ALREADY" Ares shouted, glaring at the book.

Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."  
He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch. "That's it." I started to get up,

"YES FINALLY SOME ACTION!" Artemis turned towards Ares and glares "SHUT THE HADES UP!"

But Grover pulled me back to my seat.  
"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."  
Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there.

"Should have" Ares grumbled, sulking that he didn't.

In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.  
Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.  
He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of real old black-and-orange pottery.  
It blew my mind that this stuff survived for two thousand, three thousand years.

"That's not that old" Dionysus pointed out, "Well to a human perspective…" Chiron tailed off. Dionysus just grunted.

He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everyone around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dobbs, would give me the evil eye.

"Is it a monster?" Poseidon asked seeming slightly angry. "I think so…" Chiron looked pitiful at the book. "But why do you care Poseidon?" Athena cut in. Poseidon ignored her and told Hades to keep reading.

Mrs. Dobbs was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last teacher had a nervous breakdown.

Hades paused "That sounds like one of my Furies" Poseidon glared "You're sending a Fury to a twelve year old that doesn't even know?" he growled out. Everyone turn towards him. "Read" Poseidon commanded of his brother, who obliged.

From her first day, Mrs. Dobbs loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.

"Isn't a month kind of extreme" Apollo said, "She's a fury" Zeus pointed out that fact again.

One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dobbs was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."  
Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.  
Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"

"Watch he's going to get yelled at" Hermes said snickering. Poseidon gave a sort of half smile, but other wise said nothing.

It came out louder than I meant it to.  
The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.

"Of cores now I stop" Chiron muttered to himself.

"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"  
My face was totally read. I said, "No sir."  
Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele.  
"Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"  
I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it.

"Big surprise there!" Ares laughed out, Poseidon shot a glare toward him before asking Hades to continue.

"That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"

"It had to be that?" Zeus moaned. "Can we skip this part?" he asked after a second. Athena glared at her father, "No."

"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because…"  
"Well…" I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and—"

"King god? Chiron correct that boy!" Zeus glared. "I will" Chiron said, slightly frowning.

"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.

"See" Chiron smiled.

"Titan," I corrected myself.

"No you didn't Chiron did!" Apollo cut in.

"And… he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters -"

"He doesn't have to repeat his name so much" Poseidon said, but still happy his son new the answer.

"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.  
"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."

"Well of cores we did" Ares said proudly.

Some snickers from the group.  
Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"

"I don't like that girl" Artemis said. Apollo looked at her sister before saying "Okayyyyy moving on."

"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

All the gods turned to Chiron "How's he suppose to know? He doesn't know about us being real!" Poseidon spoke first, while most nodded and agreed. Chiron never replied.

"Busted," Grover muttered.  
"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red then her hair.  
At lest Nancy got picked on, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears. I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."

"I think I want to see if he knows…" Chiron interrupted answering Poseidon's question.

"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson, Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach.

Most of the gods' eyes glazed over, as if remembering.

The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note,

Poseidon along with his two brothers shot a look at Chiron "Happy note?" Poseidon muttered to him self.

It's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?" The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.

"I like this boy!" Artemis said agreeing whole heartily with his last statement.

Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson." I knew what was coming. I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?" Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything. "You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me. "About the Titans?" "About real life. And how your studies apply to it."

"Why'd he say 'about the Titans' he already answered that." Ares snorted.

"Oh." "What you learn from me," he said," is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson." I wanted to get angry; this guy pushed me so hard. I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No-he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.

"Some names are hard to spell…" Apollo said, muttering a curse when Artemis shot a snug look at him.

I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one sad look at the stele, like he'd been at his girl's funeral. He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue. Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York State had been weird since Christmas.

Athena along with most of the gods shot a confused look at Zeus "Looks like you're mad father" Athena stated. Everyone but Poseidon was trying to think of what made him so mad. But all Poseidon thought was 'he most of found out, that is why he is mad.'

We'd have massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in. Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school-the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.

"Why would they be at a museum on a school day if they weren't with the school?" Apollo asked aloud, but when no one replied he huffeled.

"Detention?" Grover asked.

"Why would I give him detention?" Chiron scuffled, "He did nothing wrong."

"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean-I'm not a genius." Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"

Chiron chuckled, along with Apollo and Poseidon.

I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.

"And we did not need to know that" Artemis rolled her eyes.

I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home.

"If she loved you she'd send you back" Athena commented, half talking to the book, half talking to her-self, much to the amusement to the others.

She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.

Poseidon gave a sad knowing smile; he'd seen Sally with that look before.

Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table. I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends-I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists-and dumped her half eaten lunch in Grover's lap. "Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.

"Cheetos, Those chips things right?" Athena asked; not knowing this particular department. "There crunchy cheese things!" Apollo exclaimed happily.

I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temple." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.

Hades backtracked, after reading the last sentence and looked up at his brother, "Poseidon" Zeus glared. Poseidon bowed his head, "I swear Poseidon, if you broke the oath" Zeus snarled. All Poseidon did was stare back "You broke it to." He muttered childishly. "POSEIDON!" Zeus bellowed at this point. Hades stood stunned, had he been the only one to keep the promise; the sacred oath?  
"Both of you!" Hades yelled dropping the book on the floor. Athena jumped up and went between the brothers "Do you remember the note? The books will tell Peruses answers, our fates!" She said desperate to get them to calm down. "If you're boy, chooses wrong Poseidon" Zeus threatened glaring. "He is only nine! If he choose wrong all we most do is get him to choose right!" Poseidon glared back. "You will not touch him" he seethed before sitting back down. "Continue reading brother." Hades picked up the book; he started after glaring at his brothers.

I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!" Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us. Some of the kids were whispering "Did you see-" "-the water-" "-like it grabbed her-"

Hades and Zeus shot looks at there brother "That confirms it" Hades hissed glaring.

I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc, etc, Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester.

"She probably has" Hermes muttered, looking sorry for the boy.

"Now, honey-" "I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks." That wasn't the right thing to say.

"Oh coures not" Dionysus snorted, "She's a monster."

"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said. "Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her." I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled. "I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said. "But-" "You-will-stay-here."

Poseidon's eyes widen "You said it was a fury? You sent a fury after a twelve year old that has no idea!" Poseidon yelled. Hades eyebrows nit together "I usably wouldn't… something most have happened, something" Hades said, even if his brother sired a hero he wouldn't send a fury after a twelve year old that didn't know anything. "Continue reading" Poseidon commanded.

Grover looked at me desperately. "It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying." "Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now." Nancy Bobofit smirked. I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.

The gods fell silent in till Ares had to say "I wonder how many times he used the deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare?" the gods all turned there heads and stared. "Ok moving on" Aphrodite said.

Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. How'd she get there so fast? I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at a blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.

"That is defiantly not it" Chiron said.

I wasn't so sure.

"Well at lest he knows something going on" Athena said.

I went after Mrs. Dodds. Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.

Chiron grimaced, as Poseidon shot glares at him.

I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.

"If only it was that" muttered Poseidon. The other gods have had heard him, smiled sadly. Just because they couldn't interfere all the time doesn't mean they don't care.

But apparently that wasn't the plan. I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. Except for us, the gallery was empty. Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.

Poseidon's eyes flashed dangerously and he gave a growl "She better not touch him. You better get in  
there Chiron."

Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it…

"She did" Ares laughed

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.

"What does she mean by that?" Poseidon asked. "Why would you send a fury after a twelve year old, even if he's Poseidon's son?" Athena asked Hades who looked deep in thought "I- I'm not sure" Olympus fell silent, thinking. "Any ways well never know if you don't continue reading" Aphrodite surprisingly said that.

I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."

"At lest he's being smart… He most have gotten that from his mother" Athena said, looking disgusted at Poseidon.

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?" The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.

"Oh how wrong you are" Hermes said, chuckling sadly, he felt sorry for the boy, he shouldn't have to learn about us like this, he thought.

I said, "I'll-I'll try harder, ma'am." Thunder shook the building.

"Father most have found out about Percy" Athena said.

"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."

"Confess? Confess what? That he's a half-blood?" Poseidon looked confused, as did the other gods just what was going to happen.

I didn't know what she was talking about. All I could think of was that teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.

"Illegal stash of candy, really now?" Hermes grinned "I like your boy Poseidon" He said pointed to the book looking happy.

"Well?" she demanded. "Ma'am, I don't…" "Your time is up," she hissed. Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shivered hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.

"Yep that is definitely a fury" Hades said nodding his head, as Poseidon glared at him.

Then things got even stranger. Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand. "What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air. Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint en out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword-Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.

"Ah Anaklusmos" Chiron smiled nodding his head. "It is his, by right" Poseidon nodded. "I love that sword" Ares muttered to him self "Should be mine."

Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes. My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword. She snarled, "Die honey!" And flew straight at me. Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword. The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss! Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me. I was alone.

Chiron looked confused for a second "I must not want to tell him," Poseidon and the other gods looked at him, was he serious? He was just attacked and he didn't want to tell him? "At lest not yet" He added as an after thought when the gods continued to stare.

There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me. My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something. Had I imagined the whole thing? I went back outside. It had started to rain. Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."

"Yes I would have used the mist." Chiron nodded, like that would solve everything.

I said, "Who?" "Our teacher. Duh!" I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. She just rolled her eyes and turned away. I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was. He said, "Who?" But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.

"Grover can't lie at all" Chiron laughed softly.

"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious." Thunder boomed overhead. I saw it had started sitting under his umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved. I went over to him. He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson." I handed It had started his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it. "Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?" He stared at me blankly. "Who?" "The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher." He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you alright?"

"That's the end of the chapter" Hades declared, and handed the book off to his brother.


	2. Chapter 2

_This is my second chapter well actually Moonlit-NightStars wrote it but I edited some spelling and put the story part in bold to help some readers as well put whose point of view it was. I do not own Percy Jackson or the story leading up to chapter 16. But after chapter 16 the storyline is mine. Please review when you finish the chapter. What I find sad is I have had more reviews for this chapter than my other one and my sisters and they both have at least 5 chapters posted, I guess it just means people love Percy Jackson! _

_naseena (Guest) - I usually don't answer guests but you were my first review so I did. And I am glad that out of all the ones you have read you like mine as one of the best, also this was not originally my idea but I have so gotten into it._

_waternymph569 – I did not do all the chapters because then it would slow down so much when I start typing it up, as well as I get it super-fast in my head, fast to moderate on paper, and super slow on computer. _

_Anyeshabaner__– Here it is!_

_PercyjacksonRULES2001 – Thank You!_

Chapter 2:

Poseidon's P.O.V

**"Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death,"**

I read the chapter title, my face paling. "He saw them" Apollo gave me a sad look "There's five book, he can't die yet, he's the main character" Hermes said nodding his head towards the other books.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle.**

"Something tells me this boy's going to handle a lot worse" Athena said, not helping me at all.

**For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip-had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas. Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

"Cause to them you are" Dionysus said nodding, like he agreed with them.

**It got so I almost believed them-Mrs. Dodds had never existed. Almost but Grover couldn't fool me.**

"Got to teach that boy how to lie" my brother Zeus said, telling Chiron to help with that, much to my amusement.

**When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying. Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum. I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat. The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room.**

"Brother" I warned, he better not hurt my son. He said nothing in reply.

**A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

"Brother" I now growled out, he looked at me and rolled his eyes "Calm down Poseidon, this might not even happen."  
**  
I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class. Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.  
**  
"It seems we're affecting him" Athena said, "Or at lest you two fighting is"

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

"Good I didn't like that place" I said not really realizing I said it out loud. The others snickered as I rolled my eyes.

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine. I was homesick. I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties. And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance,**

I chuckled he'd only miss that cause he's my son. Hermes snorted "He'd only miss that cause he's you're son Poseidon" I smirked guess I wasn't the only one thinking that.

**the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me. I'd miss Latin class, too-Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

"Aww Chiron he's going to miss you!" Ares laughed with my brothers and Apollo. I rolled my eyes and continued; I now understood why Hades was getting so annoyed.

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him. **

"Good" I nodded satisfied at lest he was taking this seriously.

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon,**

"Well now I'm offended" Chiron looked hurt, I along with my brothers snickered.

**or Polydictes and Polydueces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it. I paced my room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt. I remember Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson. I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book. I'd never asked a teacher for help before.**

"Well he should it tends to help" Athena put in; looking at the book with unsatisfactory like she would have if Percy was in the room.

**Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried. I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor. I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... worried about Percy, sir."  
**  
"How did you not notice?" Apollo turned towards Chiron.

**I froze. I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult. I inched closer. "... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too-"  
**  
"Yes let's freak out the poor boy more" Aphrodite cut in rolling her eyes.

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**  
**"But we may not have time. The summer solstice deadline-"  
"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."  
"Sir, he saw her..."  
"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."  
"Sir, I... I can't fail in my duties again," Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean." "You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"**

"Yup defiantly freaked him out more then needed." Hermes agreed with Aphrodite.

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud. Mr. Brunner went silent. My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall. A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow. I opened the nearest door and slipped inside. A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on. A bead of sweat trickled down my neck. Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."  
**  
"Winter solstice?" Athena muttered. "What do you think happened?" Aphrodite asked looking concerned.

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn..."  
"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."  
"Don't remind me." The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office. I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever. Finally, I slipped into the hallway and made my way back to the dorm. Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night. "Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"**

"I feel for him, he not only is worried about what you said, but his exams!" Athena shuffled, I laughed to my self doubt anyone but Athena would worry about exams after that.

**I didn't answer. "You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"  
"Just...tired." I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed. I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing**.

"Well, most would want to believe that." Hades pointed out.

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back.**

"No duh! We already established that!" Ares snorted, I shot him a quick glare before I continued.

**They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

"Because you are" Chiron muttered.

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman named I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside. For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem. "Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's… it's for the best."  
**  
"Those weren't the best words to use Chiron." Aphrodite said I nodded in agreement. "I'm sorry" he muttered looking upset with himself.

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made a sarcastic little kissing motion with her lips. I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

"I wonder if this Nancy is your kid Ares." Hermes said quietly so no one could hear, but of course seeing as he was next to me I heard, I snorted and nodded "You're probably right." The others looked at me confused as Hermes laughed.

**"I mean…" Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

"You're just digging a beeper hole there Chiron." Artemis said smirking.

**My eyes stung.**

Chiron flinched, "It's okay, he'll understand soon enough." He muttered to himself, looking slightly upset at what he said.

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

"When you put it that way…" Apollo trailer off.

**"Right," I said, trembling.  
"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say…you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-"**

"You're seriously not making it better" Aphrodite said.

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."  
" Percy-" But I was already gone.  
**  
Chiron hung his head in either shame or guilt I couldn't tell. I chuckled nervously before saying "Chiron if there's anything I know from watching him and his mother, is that Percy is very loyal and very forgiving." The others looked at me. What? I care? Unlike Zeus and Ares I like it when people around me are happy.

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

"You know, we didn't need to know that." Dionysus said annoyance leaking into his voice. He didn't want to be here, that I knew.

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

Well he was wrong about that; I am defiantly not a nobody. I thought to myself. "Ha Poseidon's a nobody!" Apollo said childishly.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.  
**  
"Well isn't th-" I shot a glare at Hermes, Hades was right this was annoying.

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."  
They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed. The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

"With the way he said it, it sounds like there lovers… Is Percy gay Poseidon?" Hermes said amazingly with a strait face, I growled "You're pushing you luck Hermes."

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

"No, but there might be monsters…" Artemis trailed off, and blushed when she noticed we we're all staring at her.

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?" Grover nearly jumped out of his sear. "Wha—what do you mean?"**

"Well, I think he means are you looking for a Fury" Hermes said, looking at the book with a strait face, almost looking like he was waiting for a reply.

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam. Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"  
"Oh … not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?"**

"Yeah, what is it? I want to know what is happening…" Athena trailed off; frankly we all wanted to know what was happening.

**He winced. "Look, Percy … I was just worried for you see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers…"**

"But he's not hallucinating" Zeus said out of no where. I cocked an eye brow at my brother, why is he… defending my kid? I was just about to ask when he demanded me to keep reading, which I wasn't happy about but listened and continued.

**"Grover" "And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dobbs, and…"  
"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

"I agree" Artemis scowled.

**His ears turned pink  
From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer."  
The card was in fancy scripts, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:  
Grover Underwood  
Keeper  
Half Blood Hill  
Long Island, New York  
(800) 009-0009  
"What's Half—"  
"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um…summer address."  
My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.  
**  
"He's not really-" Chiron stated, "Percy is right, why do we have the cards so fancy, if our kids are dyslexic…" Apollo wondered out loud. "Apollo's right… why?" I questioned as well, before Olympus fell into silence pondering just that. "Well… we should fix that." We all agreed with surprisingly Ares.  
**  
"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."  
He nodded. "Or...or if you need me."  
"Why would I need you?"  
It came out harsher than I meant it to.  
Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you."  
I stared at him.  
All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.**

"You sure he isn't g-"  
"You finish that Apollo and we will have a war on our hands." I hissed glaring.

**"Grover," I said, "What exactly are you protecting me from?"**  
**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.  
The driver cursed and steered the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.  
After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.  
We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.  
The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.  
**  
"No, it can't be, he's only twelve," I moaned into my hands. The others sat in silence before Athena… Athena, get this the goddess Athena, the one that HATES me comforted me! ME! Poseidon! "Poseidon… there's other books, and they all start with Percy Jackson… so I'm sure that he'll be okay." The others stared blankly at her. "Athena… are you feeling all right?" Apollo asked slowly, like talking to a five year old that knows he did something wrong… "Poseidon, start reading!" she said glaring at Apollo. (Not me, Apollo, she wasn't glaring at me! HA! Take that!)

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.  
All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.  
The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

"PERSEUS JACKSON, I FORBID YOU FROM DIEING AND LOOKING AT THE THREE OLD LADIES!" I had stood up. "Poseidon… I think I should just mention… that Percy can't hear you… and that you are yelling at a book." Aphrodite said. I shot her, as Percy said 'a deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.'

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.  
"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"  
"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"  
"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"  
"That Peruses is NOT funny." I growled.  
"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."  
The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.  
"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."  
"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."  
"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.  
Across the road, the old ladies were still watching **me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic.

"They snipped the yarn…" I muttered sadly. "Poseidon…I'll read the chapter if this is too-"  
"It's… It's okay…" I said cutting Hermes off, we all knew the pain of loss.

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.  
At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.  
The passengers cheered.  
"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"  
Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.  
Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.  
"Grover?"  
"Yeah?"  
"What are you not telling me?"  
He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"  
"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

"No…and yes, they are 'mythical' like Mrs. Dobbs, but… they are much, much worse," Athena said. "Athena if I didn't know any better I'd say you like my son." I said serious. She stared at me blankly "I like him, fine head he has… just needs more brains. Poseidon close your mouth, I just have a feeling."

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."  
"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."  
He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost—older.  
He said, "You saw her snip the cord."  
"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.  
"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

I stopped and looked at Zeus, to give a moment to morn his daughter… and my niece.

**"What last time?"  
"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."  
"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"  
"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."  
This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.  
"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.  
No answer.**  
**"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"  
** Everyone but Hades shivered.  
He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.  
"Isn't that a pleasant thought?" Ares said sarcastically. "I'll read next," Artemis said, so I passed her the book.


	3. Chapter 3

_This is my third chapter well actually as you know Moonlit-NightStars wrote it but I edited some spelling and put the story part in bold to help some readers as well put whose point of view it was. I do not own Percy Jackson or the story leading up to chapter 16. But after chapter 16 the storyline is mine. Please review when you finish the chapter. Now if you like pokemon, naruto, or sailor moon please read mine and my sister's other two stories_

_**And to all other guests who like this thank you for reading and any good reviews. Remember everyone after done reading review! Also I DO NOT! Own Percy Jackson and the Olympians! If I did they would not be as good as they are now. **_

Poseidon P.O.V

**Chapter three Grover Unexpectedly Loses his Pants  
**  
"Finally! He learns something; wonder if there's anymore fighting?" Ares yelled.

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.  
I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to he sixth grade?"**

"Can't blame him, if someone kept saying that to me, I'd bolt… if I was human that is." Apollo nodded seriously.

**Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.  
"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.  
A word about my mother, before you meet her.  
Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.**

"She really is," I muttered mostly to myself. "Poseidon, what does Percy mean by rottenest luck?" Hermes asked I shrugged me shoulders.

**Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.  
**  
"Ok, I get it now…"

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.  
I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.  
**  
I sat for a moment… maybe he just imagined it…

**See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.  
Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.  
**  
I smiled, "I don't think he can ever really be lost at sea… he is the sea." Apollo said completely serious. "Apollo… you're an idiot." Artemis said blandly before continuing

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.  
Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nick named him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**

"Married him to protect Percy?" Chiron guessed. No one replied, it was pretty obvious.

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along ... well, when I came home is a good example. I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.  
Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."  
"Where's my mom?"  
"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"**

I was now openly glaring at the book, "Hate Smelly Gabe…" Artemis stuck her nose up "That is a prime example of why I don't let men in my ranks."  
**  
That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?  
Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs** **on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.  
He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

My eyes widen… "You… you don't think he actually hit Percy…do you?" I asked looking at the other wide eyed gods. Olympus fell silent. "You… Zeus can I?" I paused trying to phrase the question, "Check on your son Poseidon… but quickly." He said trying to make it sound like an order.

(Artemis P.O.V)

All was silent in Olympus, though he was Poseidon's son. He was also more then likely the prophesied one and held the future. That and most of the gods had come to like him, or at lest not want him hurt or dead. "What do you think will happen, if this Gabe did hurt Pursues?"  
"Apollo… what the hell do you think Poseidon would do?" I glared angrily. I couldn't believe that I actually had started to see Perseus as a son, as a brother… as family. "No I mean… what do you think Poseidon will do? Just kill him… or turn him into something… what do you think?" and like that Olympus was quiet again.  
"It's only been three chapters and we have already taken him in," I mussed out loud. Apollo nodded "He's going to shake the very ground of the gods." Before I could ask, my father Zeus asked "… But is that a good thing?" Apollo blinked obviously confused "It's what ever you make it…"  
"I moved them." We all looked up to see a very… pissed off (Apollo words not mine) Poseidon. "That Ugliano guy?" Hades asked strait out. "He'll be visiting you brother." And that was the end of the discussion. We all knew what that meant… poor Percy. "Please Artemis, continue reading." I nodded not blinking and picked the book back up.

**"I don't have any cash," I told him.  
He raised a greasy eyebrow.  
Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.  
**  
"It wasn't worth it," Poseidon growled.

**"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?" Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."  
"Am I right?" Gabe repeated. Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.  
**  
"Is that possible?" Hermes asked. "I don't want to know, nor do I want to find out." Aphrodite said shooting him a disgusted look.

**"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."  
"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"  
I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study." He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

"That's disgusting!" Aphrodite said scrunching up her nose. "And people ask why I swore off men," I muttered mostly to myself. I knew not all men were like that, but still.

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home. Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.  
But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic—how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone—something—was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.  
**  
"You don't think?" Poseidon asked getting pale. "It's impossible… no demi-god felt a monster before." Zeus said, looking disbelieving at the book.

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"  
She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.  
My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room**.

Poseidon smiled of course I was the only one to notice. "He really loves his mother." Aphrodite smiled, I rolled my eyes, Aphrodite loved anything to do with love even if it was… motherly love.

**Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.  
**  
"Well that's changed." Poseidon said emotionless. "What do yo-" Ares was cut off. "I had to explain why I wanted them to move."  
**  
"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"  
Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.  
We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?**  
** I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

"Aw, that's sooo adorable!" Aphrodite squealed. That wouldn't have annoyed me, if I wasn't sitting next to her and she DIDN'T DO IT SO CLOSE TO MY EAR! So I did what any normal goddess of the moon and hunt would do, I yelled. "APHRODITE, I'M SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO YOU, DON'T SQUEAL IN MY EAR! GODS!" to say the lest, Zeus took the book from me and started reading before I could start yelling again.

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"  
I gritted my teeth.**

Much like I was doing I suppose "She isn't your servant." I glared at the book, hopping it would spontaneously combust with the anger of my glare.  
**  
My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.  
For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself.  
I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.  
Until that trip to the museum ...  
"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"  
"No, Mom."  
**  
"That's a very bad idea… very very bad." Surprisingly it was Dionysus who said that.

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.**

"Not stupid" Chiron said suddenly.

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.  
"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."  
My eyes widened. "Montauk?"  
"Three nights—same cabin."  
"When?"  
She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."  
I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said** **there wasn't enough money.  
Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"**

"She is NOT your slave!" I yelled standing up. It infuriated me how some people could treat others, especially women and children.

**I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.  
"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."  
Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"  
"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."  
"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your step father is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."  
Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"  
**  
Poseidon started to mutter darkly, "kill him-doesn't deserve—live" was the only thing I could make out.  
**  
"Yes, honey," my mother said.  
"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."  
"We'll be very careful."  
Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."  
**  
"Interrupting your game, my ass!" Poseidon yelled before storming out of the room. "Uh… shouldn't someone go after him?" my brother asked. "Fine you go then." Zeus answered. "Never mind!" he said hurriedly. So we sat and waited. "Tic tock, tic tock, tic tock, I'm a clock, I tell the time and I rhyme, tic tock tic." I blinked, "What the Hades Apollo!" Aphrodite beat me to it. "I'm bored!" he said cheerful. "Apollo go get Poseidon NOW!" Zeus yelled. Apollo left so it was quiet…again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~10 minutes later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I hate all of you" Apollo said coming back into the room, "I really, really do."  
"Apollo where is Poseidon?" Ares asked innocently. "Nope, he ant coming, give him a good 'nother ten minutes and Gabe might be dead."  
"He's killing Gabe?" Chiron asked looking surprised. "Nope not killing torturing is a better word." Silence "he's angry." Everyone stared. "Why didn't he ask me to help?" Ares and I asked at the same time. Again silence, it was beginning to creep me out!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Another 10 something minutes later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Poseidon walked back in, seemingly happy and covered with blood. "Continue reading please," I nodded and took the book back from Zeus.

**Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.  
**  
3…2…1 Olympus broke into laughter. "I really wish he had!" Hermes howled. "I freaking love your kid Poseidon!" Apollo cried, clutching his sides. When we all finally calmed down I continued.

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.  
Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?  
"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."  
Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.  
**  
Poseidon smiled. "Your kid's tough… I like 'em" Ares announced. Poseidon nodded. I on the other hand looked at Athena; one thought running threw my mind. At this rate Percy will probably be the only demi-god to which all the gods like.

**"Yeah, whatever," he decided.  
He went back to his game.  
"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"  
For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes—the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride—as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.  
But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.  
An hour later we were ready to leave.  
Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking—and more important, his '78 Camaro—for the whole weekend.  
"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."  
**  
"Um… isn't Peruses twelve?" Athena asked. "Yeah, why would he be driving?" Hermes asked looking con- "CONFUZZLED! I APOLLO AM CONFUZZLED!"  
"Apollo what's confuzzled?" and you guessed it Aphrodite asked. "It my dear Aphrodite is confusingly puzzled." My brother (who is in fact an idiot) said happily.

**Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.  
Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the stair case as if he'd been shot from a cannon. Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I** **didn't stay long enough to find out**.

Wait for it…wait for it, and Olympus was laughing. "That's sooo funny!" Hermes howled. "Ok- Ok" I smiled before picking the book back up.

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.  
Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.  
I loved the place.**

"Of course you did, your Poseidon's kid" Dionysus rolled his eyes.

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.  
As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.  
We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.  
**  
"What's with all the blue food?" Hades suddenly asked making me chuckle, "Here the book explains!"  
**I guess I should explain the blue food.**

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This—along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano—was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.  
**  
Poseidon suddenly smiled, "What?" Aphrodite asked confused. "It also just happens to be Percy favorite color, he's loved that color since he was three." He said smiling fondly at the book.

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.  
Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk—my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.  
**  
Poseidon smile got bigger.

**"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."  
Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."**

"I am proud, I will always be proud of my children." Poseidon nodded still in fact smiling.

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years**.

"Is D even a grade?" Hermes asked looking confused. "Yeah I thought it only went up to C and then F." Apollo nodded. No one had an answer.

**"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean ... when he left?"  
She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."  
"But... he knew me as a baby."  
"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."  
I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.**

Now Poseidon looked confused "How does he remember that? He was only a few weeks old…" most of us gaped we've all visited our children at one point or another but for one to remember when he visited when he was that young? Impossible…

**I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me...  
I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.  
"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"  
She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.  
"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something."  
"Because you don't want me around?"  
I regretted the words as soon as they were out.  
My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I—I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."  
Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said—that it was best for me to leave Yancy.  
"Because I'm not normal," I said.**

"Nope you got fish face for a father!" Apollo and Hermes said happily. Surprisingly Poseidon said nothing.

**"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy** **Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."  
"Safe from what?"  
She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me—all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.  
During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.**

We all glared darkly.

**Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.  
**  
And now most of us were in fact gaping…again. Percy I thought was going to change everything, and I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.  
I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.  
"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't stand to do it**."

"That's how most of them die," Chiron said gravely.

**"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"  
"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."  
My head was spinning. Why would my dad—who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born— talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?  
"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I—I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."  
"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ..."  
She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.  
That night I had a vivid dream.  
It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.**

"It seems we are fighting brother" Poseidon said staring blankly ahead. "So it would seem," Zeus nodded.

**The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder**.

Olympus froze, "No…" Zeus growled. "This is your fault Poseidon!"  
"MY FAULT!? HOW IS IT MY FAULT!?"  
"IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR YOUR SON!"  
"PERCY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS."  
Not knowing what to do, I just started shouting out the lines from the story, amazingly making them quiet. "Father we knew this was going to happen… all we need to do is read first, Percy is already in our favor, with Poseidon getting him away from that man" Athena said, "Artemis please start reading."

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, No!  
I woke with a start.  
Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**

"Just like his dream…" muttered Apollo.

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."  
I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.  
Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice—someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.  
My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.  
Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't exactly Grover.**

"And now he knows" Chiron spoke quietly.

**"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"  
My mother looked at me in terror—not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.  
"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"  
I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.  
**_**"O Zeu kai alloi theoi**_**!**_**"**_** he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"  
**  
"What's behind you?" Poseidon said wide eyed.  
**  
I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on—**

"Gay" Ares muttered, sadly Poseidon heard him… lets just say Ares now has a couple of cuts and bruises.

**and where his legs should be ... where his legs should be ...  
My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: "Percy. Tell me now!"  
I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.  
She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. Go!"  
Grover ran for the Camaro—but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.  
Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.**

"And that is the end of the chapter." I nodded putting the book down. "I'll read," Athena said taking the book from me.


End file.
